By Staff and Wire Report
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana political leaders said Friday that they decided to postpone the state’s May 5 primary because of concern about the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb said during a news conference with the state GOP and Democratic chairmen that the Indiana primary will instead be held on June 2.
Holcomb said Thursday, March 19, that he thought the primary should be delayed because he was concerned about the safety of county elections officials, polling site workers and voters. He said Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson was leading discussions with state political party leaders in an attempt to reach a consensus.
Neighboring Ohio and Kentucky are among at least seven other states that have postponed their primaries, and others are considering increased voting by mail.
Indiana Democratic Chairman John Zody and Republican Chairman Kyle Hupfer wrote a joint letter to the state elections commission last week asking for it to relax the rules for requesting mail-in absentee ballots.
Hancock County has numerous contested Republican races on the primary ballot, including for two county commissioner seats and a four-way race for Superior Court 1 judge.
Indiana has no challenged races for statewide elected offices in this year’s primary, and it is uncertain whether the Democratic presidential race will remain undecided. Multiple candidates are seeking nominations for congressional seats being given up by Democratic Rep. Pete Visclosky and Republican Rep. Susan Brooks.
Health officials said Friday that Indiana had recorded 23 new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. That brought the state’s overall total to 79, including two patients who died.
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.
Hancock County Clerk Lisa Lofgreen said she is anticipating that state officials will shift forward other key election dates as well, including the deadlines to register to vote and to request a vote-by-mail ballot. The county had not mailed out voter information yet, she said, so no local money has been lost due to the postponement.
Lofgreen encouraged voting by mail despite the change. After the state elections commission meets on Wednesday, March 25, the Hancock County Election Board will hold a meeting to discuss what procedural changes need to be made.
“Hopefully, our turnout will be as high as we were anticipating before any of us heard of COVID-19,” she said.
Randy Johnson, chairman of the Hancock County Democratic Party, said postponing the primary was the right thing to do for the safety of poll workers and the public, although he said it might need to be delayed even further if the COVID-19 outbreak continues into the summer.
Johnson said the county Democrats, who have no candidates running in the primary election, will not hold in-person meetings through at least April.
“Public health needs to be the first priority,” he said.
As of Friday, the Indiana Democratic and Republican parties were each still advertising on their respective websites that their state party conventions would take place in Indianapolis in June. The state Democrats issued guidelines for county parties that advised postponing non-essential gatherings and to reach out to voters over the phone or virtually, rather than canvassing door-to-door.
